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Oil tanker risks in Middle East hit worst level since Iran war began
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to single digits on Sunday and low double digits on Saturday, versus more than 100 per day before the war began, while attacks also have raised risk on Red Sea routes used by tankers.
BBC Business reports the threat to ships carrying oil in the Middle East is at its worst since the Iran war started, after attacks targeted another key shipping route in the region.
According to ship-tracking data cited by BBC Business, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was just eight vessels on Sunday and 11 on Saturday, compared with more than 100 per day before the war began. The outlet also notes that around 20% of the world’s oil and gas previously passed through the strait, and that some tankers reduced risk by switching to the Red Sea route when the strait was blocked.
BBC Business adds that a temporary US-Iran peace deal in early June briefly increased crossings, but strikes resumed about a month later, sharply reducing traffic. It also says many ships have been “going dark” by turning off transponders to avoid detection.
The outlet reports that for much of the war, Saudi-bound tankers used an alternative route in the Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and west Africa, but Yemen’s Houthi fighters have mounted attacks on Saudi tankers there. BBC Business further cites an Iranian-backed Houthi “blockade” announcement for Saudi Red Sea ports on 20 July, along with multiple reported attacks in the past week by the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, as Kpler analyst Matthew Wright warned the market is facing “a problem stacked on top of a problem.”